Script To Screen: “Army of Darkness”

Yes, it’s the Boomstick scene from the classic 1992 comic horror movie Army of Darkness, written by Ivan Raimi and Sam Raimi.

Plot Summary: A man is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., where he must battle an army of the dead and retrieve the Necronomicon so he can return home.

Here is the scene for what is reported to be the shooting script:

ARTHUR

stares at Ash with hatred.

ARTHUR
For that, I shall see you dead.

ASH

removes his sawed off shotgun from Wiseman John’s horse and
turns to Arthur, then the crowd.

ASH
This is my boomstick. It’s a
twelve gauge, double barreled
Remington pump. Next one of you
primitives touch me…

ASH SPINS
pointing the barrel just past Arthur. He, but no one else, has
spotted the surviving Second Deadite crawling up from the pit
on the forgotten chain.

The crowds gasp is cut short by….BLAMMITY-BLAM!

The shotgun belches flame. The blast cuts the chain, leaving
the Deadite teetering at the pit’s edge.

ANGLE ON

BLAMMITY-BLAM! The second shot blows the beast into a backflip, sending it
summersaulting down into the pit.

THE SOUND OF THE GUNBLAST 
echoes off the mountains like distant thunder.

SHEILA, THE WISEMAN, ARTHUR AND THE CROWD 
look to Ash in reverence.

ASH

twirls the shotgun about western style: WHOOSH, WHOOSH,
WHOOSH… and holsters it.

ASH
Bring me your hoo do man.

Here is the scene from the movie:

Here is an example of where what is on the screen is both quite similar yet quite different than the script. The structure of the scene, it’s primary point in relation to the plot, and tone are all pretty much the same. But there is an extensive reworking of the dialogue, adding a lot of lines. Here is a transcript of Ash’s actual lines from the movie:

Ash: Yeah. Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up. See this?
This is my boomstick! It’s a twelve gauge double barreled
Remington, S-Mart’s top-of-the-line. You can find this in the
sporting goods department. That’s right this sweet baby was made in
Grand Rapids Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It’s got a walnut
stock, cobalt blue steel and a hair trigger. That’s right. Shop
Smart. Shop S-mart. Ya got that?! Now I swear, the next one of you
primates, even touches me… Ya! (BOOM) (BOOM) Now, let’s talk about 
how I get back home.

Why do you think Raimi added all of that dialogue? I have a theory, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. If you don’t respond, I may have to bust out my own boomstick!

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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